joseph wheeler appleton

the extraordinary models of
joseph wheeler appleton
NEWPORT RHODE ISLAND • JUNE 15-SEPT 15, 2010
The Museum of Yachting and the International Yacht Restoration School
present a rare exhibit of 10 exquisite ship models
1 • joseph wheeler appleton
Tiny hand-made hardware before installation
the
extraordinary
models of
joseph wheeler
appleton
BY JAY PICOTTE
Joseph Appleton’s models
represent the passion, hard work, sacrifice,
and obsession of a man who wouldn’t
compromise. The better part of Appleton’s life
was spent alone, in small workshops, toiling
on a series of ship and yacht models, each of
which was a struggle towards perfection.
2 • joseph wheeler appleton
J
oseph Wheeler Appleton was born in
1900 into a prominent Brooklyn Heights, New
York ­family. His father Ruel Ross Appleton
(1853-1928), a descendant of George Ross, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence, was
well-known and busy in business and politics. A successful banker and cotton goods broker, the senior
Appleton was also a tax commissioner and treasurer and trustee of the Public Library in Brooklyn.
According to the New York Times, he was “one of
Brooklyn’s foremost republicans.” His sister, Helen
Lincoln Appleton graduated from Smith College and
married Charles Albert Read Jr. After living abroad for
a number of years, she returned to Brooklyn, divorced,
and took a job at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, one of the
most circulated and important papers of the time. She
became a famous, outspoken, and opinionated art,
architecture and design critic and journalist. She also
wrote for Vogue and International Studio. In a recent
feature article about Helen Appleton Read in Antiques
Magazine (Jan. /Feb. 2010) Lisa Schlansker Kolosek
described her as “one of the most influential American
art critics of her time” and credits her with helping “to
bring modernism into the American spotlight.”
Joseph Appleton’s younger years reflected his privileged background. He was educated at the Taft School
and the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University,
class of 1924. Early on, he discovered a passion for sailing and the sea and fed that passion by racing sailboats
on Long Island Sound as often as he could. It was while
he was at Yale that he first began building ship models
as a hobby. When he finished at Yale his life followed
a different course than many of his peers. Instead of
heading to Wall Street, graduate school, or industry,
he headed out to sea. He took a job as a mate on the
three-masted schooner Blossom on a South Atlantic
and Indian Ocean expedition that took him to West
Africa and the Cape Verde Islands. He was the skipper
on the Philip Rhodes designed cutter Skal that placed
second to Olin Stephen’s Dorade in the famous 1931
transatlantic race.
During this period he began making models professionally in a small shop he created in his family home
at 33 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights, about one
block from the promenade overlooking New York
Harbor and the statue of Liberty. He repaired many
of the models from the Cunard and White Star lines
in this shop. Still sailing whenever he could, the connections he made on the water provided him with customers until his work eventually spoke for itself and
word of mouth provided him with enough business to
keep busy.
Appleton was a regular crew member on Walter
Barnum’s Sparkman & Stephens designed schooner
yacht Brilliant. He sailed her on a record-breaking
transatlantic crossing in 1933. Her elapsed time from
Nantucket Lightship to Bishop Rock Light, England,
was 15 days, 1 hour and 23 minutes. During that crossing Brilliant had five consecutive days where she sailed
over 200 miles, a remarkable feat for a sailing vessel of
her size. While in England, Appleton and Brilliant raced
in the famous Fastnet Race from Cowes on the Isle of
Wight around the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast
of Ireland and then finishing at Plymouth. To get home,
he hitched a ride with Rod Stephens on the Fastnet
winner Dorade and made another record breaking passage westbound, Cowes to Larchmont, in 22 days.
Following his eventful summer of sailing in 1933 he
decided to build a model of Brilliant as a gift to Walter
Barnum. This incredible model, built with every detail
that Appleton knew so well, was presented to Barnum
in 1935. Barnum, knowing the labor that went into
the model, graciously insisted on paying Appleton for
his effort.
Walter Barnum receiving his model of Brilliant from Joseph Appleton
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By 1934, Joseph Appleton was working as curator
at the Marine Museum of the City of New York, the
collection of which has since been inherited by the
Museum of the City of New York. In a promotional
brochure for the museum listing Appleton as curator,
notable yachtsmen Arthur Curtiss James and L. Gordon
Hammersley are listed as trustees of the museum.
During his tenure there, Appleton built three locally
significant models for the museum: the Clermont, the
first commercial steamboat that ran from New York up
the Hudson River to Albany, built by Robert Fulton;
the Halve Maen or Half Moon, Henry Hudson’s ship
that he sailed from Holland to the new world and
then up the river that now bears his name to present
day Albany; and the Saint Nicholas, a packet ship that
sailed between New York and LeHavre, France in the
1840’s and 1850’s.
Appleton had acquired enough experience and
reputation to have been approached by the President
of the United States to repair the chief executive’s personal model of the U.S.S. Constitution. FDR’s model,
built in the 1870’s was in a state of disrepair and
Appleton replaced all of the complicated rigging and
renewed the mainmast and bowsprit. In a quote from
the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on May 4th 1934 Appleton
explained, “There were no professional model-makers
in the United States 60 years ago when this (U.S.S.
Constitution) was made. In Great Britain the Admiralty
had fine model-makers, for they found that with wellmade models to show members of Parliament they
could get bigger appropriations for the navy.” The same
model appears in the background of a famous portrait
of FDR by Ellen Emmett Rand.
When the United States entered World War II,
Appleton joined the navy as a Lt. Commander and
worked as a shipbuilding supervisor at the U.S. Navy
shipyard in his hometown Brooklyn. In June of 1945,
he was sent to Washington D.C. to work as the first
Curator for the Navy’s Bureau of Ships where he was
in charge of all navy exhibition models. According to
Dana Wegner, himself a former curator of ship models,
Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center,
in a 2000 article for Nautical Research Journal:
“Appleton devised the first set of written specifications for
navy models based on the experience accumulated by the
navy up to that time. He wrote the specifications to ensure
that finished models built for the navy, whether built inhouse or outside, would have a uniform style, a homogeneous level of detail, and a superior level of craftsmanship.
They were also designed to assure that the models were
portable and sturdy enough to last a long time, in order to
justify the government’s expense. Appleton’s specifications
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Appleton model exhibit in IYRS library
have been modified a little from time to time, but basically
they are the same today as when they were first promulgated. In the 1960s, Howard Chapelle began to use the
navy’s specifications at the Smithsonian Institution, and
most of the models in the famous watercraft and naval history halls there now were built to U.S. Navy standards.
Many maritime museums also use them.”
After the war, Appleton moved his wife Geraldine
and three children, Mary, Charley, and Jeremy, to
Stonington, Connecticut. When he first arrived there
he worked briefly as a curator and lecturer at the
Marine Museum of the Marine Historical Association
which is now well known as Mystic Seaport. While at
the museum, according to his son Charley, Appleton
created several models of the museum’s sandbagger
sloop Annie which stood proudly at the museum’s
entrance for many years. One of these models is still in
the museum’s collection.
From about 1950, Appleton worked only on his
custom models from his shop behind his home on
Flanders Road in Stonington. His shop was a place for
serious work and he only allowed young visitors to
observe if they kept quiet. When it came to his work,
Appleton was “almost possessed” said his son Charley.
Guy Hickok of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote in 1934
that “Appleton works with a mathematical exactitude
that disdains the facile effects of exaggeratedly high
poops and impossibly bellowing sails.” Charley agrees
with Hickok, after inspecting one of his father’s models he suggested there had been something added. “I
don’t think my father would have done that. He would
have considered it tacky.”
“Choice box-wood, holly, satinwood, seasoned
white pine, mahogany and various metals are his
Appleton’s photo of Rod Stephens
repairing Dorade’s mainsail, mid-atlantic 1933.
materials.” Hickok reported. Joseph Appleton himself
explained, “I keep the wood two years before I use it to
guard against warpage and the mahogany in this model
is from the beams of a 350-year-old house in Santo
Domingo. It stood at Boca Chica, about 30 miles out of
the town of Santo Domingo.”
His shop included a ropewalk where he would twist
his own cordage to make accurate scale representations
of all the lines onboard. He converted an old outhouse
on the property to serve as a dedicated paint booth
where he would carefully spray his models. His son
Charley found it odd that his father, after cautiously
and methodically carving and then painting a half hull,
would take the still wet model and hang it in the sun to
dry on the back of the outhouse.
Necessity forced him to make many of his own tools
as none existed for the lilliputian work he performed.
Other tools were adapted for specific uses in model
building. He used a number of jeweler’s, watchmaker’s,
and dental tools including lathes and drills. He adapted
them for his needs as, in one example, creating a tiny
table saw out of brass plate that was driven by a jeweler’s lathe. He focused on such small work with the
help of a magnifying monocle that enabled him to see
the small parts but he still lacked the depth perception
afforded by viewing with 2 eyes. Late in his career, when
his friend and fellow model maker Alfred S. Brownell of
Providence realized how he had been working, he made
a gift of a jeweler’s magnifying visor.
Long hours did not reward him financially. He
worked about 75 hours a week. On the model of John
Nicholas Brown’s Bolero for example, he spent 4,000
hours over a period of 14 months, typical for one of his
full rigged models. His price for the model was $5,000
making his earnings about 80 cents an hour. The minimum wage at the time was 75 cents.
Appleton’s intense concen­tration and dedication to
his work paid off in some ways even if not financially.
His friend Alfred Brownell said about him: “No question
about it. Appleton’s the best there is today on yachts.”
After receiving his model of Caribbee from Appleton,
journalist and race winning yachtsman Carleton
Mitchell said, “I have looked it over carefully for three
weeks now and still can’t find anything out of place.”
Today, the advances in technology and science have
enabled people to create almost anything very quickly
and efficiently but there are still some things for which
there is no shortcut. Finely detailed custom models of
ships and yachts are among those things. Interestingly,
there are very few, if any, model builders today who
can replicate Appleton’s skill and ability to create such
beautiful, accurate, and eerily authentic scale representations of yachts.
According to R. Michael Wall of American Marine
Model Gallery where two of Appleton’s models were
recently restored, “He’s able to provide meticulous
craftsmanship in the four basic modeling elements:
wood-working, paint and finishing, metalsmithing and
rigging. His end result achieved an artistic quality and a
compelling sense of realism that when observed would
enthrall even the causal on-looker.” Wall goes on to
describe Appleton’s construction methods:
“Appleton seemed to prefer the laminated waterline lift
method of construction, where planks of wood are layered up
based on the waterline mark then carefully shaped and hollowed out for any recesses such as a cockpit or open hatches.
On some small projects such as Briggs Cunningham’s sixmetre Lucie, he essentially would split the carved solid hull
in half on the longitudinal line, almost like crafting two
half models, and then each half would be hollowed-out to
within an eighth of an inch of hull thickness. Once rejoined
the related deck beams or frames and floor timbers would
be installed. On a model such as Brilliant, portions of the
solid wooden hull were carved out to relieve future stress
of shrinkage over time, and then deck beams installed so
that the individual deck planking could be laid. Appleton’s
5 • joseph wheeler appleton
ability to prepare the hull for paint work was critical, so that
in the future the model’s lifts would be permanently sealed
and not shrink or crack over time. He used mostly lacquer
paints, which would give the hard finishes he required. One
of his greatest talents was his concern and consistency in his
metalsmith work, an element on modern yacht models so
often diminished.
Appleton’s work was remarkable. No matter how small
or seemingly insignificant the fittings, e.g. hinges, shackles,
bolts, etc., he would replicate them to the highest degree. He
seemed to prefer to use brass as this metal is strong and yet
a very workable material. His ability to rig a model starts
with his skill in twisting up his own linen rigging threads
to the required diameters each project would stipulate. On
occasion some lines called for a combination of thread and
wire, which he would carefully join together using minuscule
splicing techniques or via miniaturized metal fittings exactly
as those used on the actual vessel.”
Robert H. Eddy & Associates, the highly regarded
model builders from Camden, ME made repairs to the
model of So Fong as a result of shipping damage that
happened in the winter/spring of 1998, from Chicago
to Maine. Rob Eddy wrote:
“It is one of the finest we have seen. We are impressed by
many details on the model, which document everything
imaginable. All hardware is extremely accurate and hand
built. A list of some interesting features is as follows:
*Pivoting hatch locks which are threaded and work
*Custom made stainless steel wire for stays and shrouds
*Actual thimbles for the wire shrouds
*Turnbuckles that are threaded and scaled properly for the
intended loads.
*Snap shackles and metal blocks
*Built up wood ships blocks with turned sheaves
*Spreader lights, masthead lights with electric wires leading
into the mast.
*All metalwork is brass, copper, silver or nickel
*Hand painted name and hailing port (2-tone) gold leaf
and red base
*Cove stripe with arrow/feather details relieved from the
surface and hand gold leafed
The hull is built from lifts of basswood. The model is displayed on a cradle as if it were shored up on the weighs at
a boatyard. The masts, booms and gaffs are built from boxwood with extreme accuracy. All the metalwork attached
to them is working hardware. The decks are individually
laid planks most likely of natural unfinished boxwood. The
gangway ramp is a hinged and functional piece. The grates
are built up and the hinges are all working. The ship’s wheel
is a built up wood 8 spoke, rimmed wheel. The deckhouse is
fully detailed inside with deck beams, hinged portholes, fire
extinguisher, instruments and overhead light fixture.”
Joseph Wheeler Appleton died in 1958 at the young
age of 57 after a long struggle with cancer.
Appleton’s models are very rare. It is estimated
that he built over 100 half models in his lifetime and
believed that he built approximately 20 full models.
Unfortunately, there are no real records of his work and
reports of their whereabouts are widely varied. Because
of their unique quality, accuracy and beauty, they have
become coveted and though an Appleton model almost
never becomes available, when one does it is expected
to command a significant amount. On January 15, 2009,
Appleton’s model of Brilliant sold to a German gentleman at a Christie’s auction in New York for $85,000.
Just one more testimony to his talent and life’s work. It
has since changed hands again and now resides in New
England. There have been one or two other exchanges
but they have been private and the sale amounts are
unknown.
It is a rare privilege to bring together 10 of Appleton’s
models in addition to many of the special tools he created and used to build them. Outside of the Museum
of the city of New York where there remain three of
Appleton’s models, there has never been an exhibit of
his work.
Terry Nathan, president of the International Yacht
Restoration School and the Museum of Yachting commented, “It is not often that a small organization has
the opportunity to premier anything. The Museum
of Yachting has seized the opportunity and honor. An
acknowledgment of Appleton’s work is long overdue.”
SOURCES
Antiques. January/February 2010
Bourne, Russell and Kinney, Francis S. The Best of the Best: The Yacht Designs of Sparkman & Stephens. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996
Bray, Maynard, Fuller, Benjamin and Vermilya, Peter. Mystic Seaport Watercraft. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport, 2001
Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 4, 1934
Kinney, Francis S. “You Are First” The Story of Olin and Rod Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1978
Nautical Research Journal. Volume 45, Issue 1, March 2000.
Nautical World. October 1997
Rousmaniere, John. In a Class by Herself: The Yawl Bolero and the Passion for Craftsmanship. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport, 2006
Rousmaniere, John. The New York Yacht Club, A History. New York: New York Yacht Club and Seapoint Books, 2009
Stephens, Olin J. All This and Sailing Too. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport, 1999
Stephens, Olin J. II, Lines A Half Century of Yacht Designs By Sparkman & Stephens, 1930-1980. Boston: David R. Godine, 2002
Stonington Mirror. January 7, 1949
6 • joseph wheeler appleton
Models not in MoY/IYRS exhibit:
Harold Vanderbilt’s 1937 America’s Cup winner Ranger
Henry Hudson’s Half Moon
Robert Fulton’s Clermont
Sport Fisher Tadpole
International One Design
Packet ship Saint Nicholas
R.J. Reynolds yawl Elizabeth McCaw
R.J. Reynolds’ sloop Blitzen
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FULL MODELS
by JOSEPH WHEELER APPLETON
Name
TypeStatus
BlitzenSloop
Unknown
Bolero
YawlNew York Yacht Club
BrilliantSchooner yacht
Private Collection
Caribbee
Yawl
Private Collection
ClermontSteamshipMuseum of the City of New York
Elizabeth McCaw Yawl
Unknown
Eros
Unknown
Unknown
Finisterre
Yawl
Private Collection
Half MoonDutch ShipMuseum of the City of New York
IOD
One Design Sloop Unknown
JillSix-Metre sloop
Unknown
LucieSix-Metre sloop
Private Collection
Nautilus
Atomic Submarine U.S. Navy Collection
Ranger
J Class SloopNew York Yacht Club
Saint Nicholas
Packet ShipMuseum of the City of New York
So FongSchooner yacht
Private Collection
TadpoleSport Fishing Yacht Unknown
Victory Class Sloop
Unknown
CLIENTS
Harold Vanderbilt
R.J. Reynolds
Walter Barnum
John Nicholas Brown
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Crawford Failey
Marine Museum of the
City of New York
Briggs Cunningham
U.S. Navy
Carleton Mitchell
Marine Museum of
the Marine Historical
Association (Mystic
Seaport)
James Crawford
Robert Carr
J. Seward Johnson